The Wayward Fae

Sam stood with Amber, they were watching Addi run around the garden of Amber's Security. She was two years old now, but looked and acted like a seven-year-old. She and her best friend, Pax, had the whole pack wrapped around their finger. They ran the whole town, and everyone knew where they were, because where ever they went, disaster always followed, or at least mostly, but definitely a hell of a noise. They'd all settled down nicely after what happened two years ago, with the fight against Ava and her zombies, they'd gotten most of the people back to normal, and most of them were back with Michelle in New Hope,  Sam still worried that Ava was just biding her time and that her attack would come when they least expected it, but she also knew that she couldn't live in fear. Two years ago, when Dark Side of Delta disappeared she'd known it was Ava's doing, but even after two years, there was no sign of her or any of those people, they'd packed up, and vanished into thin air. Sam, Michelle, Riana, and the Gathering had sent their best scouts out to find them, and they still had a scout or two out there, but they were gone. And Sam had a feeling they would only surface when Ava was good and ready.  Sam grinned as Addi leaped through the air, turning into her mini wolf, as Pax tried to do the same. He landed on his side, skidding over the dirt, and stood up, dusting himself off, a grin on his face. She could hear him tell Addi that one day he would be bigger than her and would kick her butt. Sam sometimes forgot that they were only two, the way they spoke and played, was far beyond what a normal human child would be able to do. But she loved that for now, they had the freedom, to run and play like the kids they were.  Sam had sort of gotten used to the idea that Amber was Custos, or Guardian, as most caller her, the protector of all the factions. But it was still hard when there were times she had to travel and Sam couldn't go with her. But, as Amber kept telling her, she would always come back. And she did. With Morgan and Alex traveling all over the world, she dealt more with Ivan and Riana, Gregor the wolf had stepped back, deferring to Sam most of the time, which she absolutely hated. She did not want to be a part of the Gathering at all. She already had too many stragglers making Silver Moon their home, as word got around that they had helped vampires and even had the ear of the Fae queen.  Yet another thing that boggled Sam's mind. When Amber had told her that Riana was a queen and had only come out of her kingdom to help Amber, since she owed her a favor, Sam had almost fallen on her back. She'd treated a queen like one of the normal folk. Amber had laughed at her and explained that Riana was as old as time, and had seen so much happen in her life that she'd be okay with one wolf alpha not knowing she was a queen. Sam doubted that. What queen would be okay with not being known? She'd told her that her daughter, a fire fae, she still had no idea what that was, had been getting restless and Riana was afraid that she would make a run for it soon.  Her pack had grown by over two hundred, with wolves drifting toward Silver Moon and joining her pack, they'd had to expand and build more houses. Lucky for her, she had her very own builder, Mandy, who'd been in her pack since she was a pup, had opened her building company right there in Silver Moon. Which also held some negatives as that brought more outsiders to town that wanted to use her services. But she also employed pack members which created more job opportunities for her wolves. So she didn't complain too much.  Hunter had come through the whole sacrifice ordeal, with few negative effects, she was still a vampire, but she sometimes complained that her skin felt itchy as if something wanted to crawl through. Diane had done tests and found that some of the werewolf traits from Amber's blood had merged with her vampire DNA. But at the core, she was still a vampire. Gem and Tori had moved to New Hope with her. With Gina still missing with Ava, they'd become a family and were happily going about their business. Hunter was still on the Gathering council, and still did her duties to them, Gem was still Michelle's head guard, but she had a trainee, set to take over from her, as she and Hunter wanted to adopt a baby of their own too.  Mya, now that one had gotten a big head, Sam thought with a grin. She'd been promoted to Guardian's guard and had to travel with Amber everywhere, with Michelle and Ash retiring. She'd handed the reins of the merged Amber/Garrison over to Jane, who'd taken to being in charge like a pig to mud. Jane loved taking on new recruits and working them so hard, that they collapsed at the end of the day. She believed that that way they were properly trained and knew what would be expected of them if a war should ever come again, Taylor had turned the Historical building into a library, and it was now open to all who wanted to learn about their history. Sam was nervous about it at first, scared that outsiders would learn their secrets. But Taylor had it set up so only pack members could delve deeper than the most basic history. Mya, Taylor, and Jane had built a home, by Mandy, of course, in a secluded part of the woods, saying they needed their privacy. Sam could understand all of that since she was surrounded by the Gamber, as she'd started calling the Amber/Garrison army.  To be honest, she'd wanted to retreat too, but felt that she had to be visible and accessible to her pack. Amber had agreed to let her work with Mandy to build onto her home, and Sam had given her cottage in the woods to Riley and Avery. Two of the newcomers. Amy, one of her first Garrison's had found them wandering by the lake about two months ago, and after she'd spoken to them, they'd asked to stay awhile, she'd said yes. And now it seemed they would stay. They seemed to be stirring up some relationships, with Amy working hard to win Riley's favor and Avery seeming to enjoy causing ripples between Lucy and Mandy. Who continued to say they were just friends.  Michelle and Ash had contracted Mandy to rebuild Old Town, and when they were done, they'd reopened and renamed it, New Hope. All the vampires and the kids went back there, with new safety measures in place, and security, even after two years, still very high. Even Sam and Amber had to call ahead to get in. Most of the kids had found their moms and dads, or some just moms, and others just dads, those that had lost both, had been divided up into the other homes, even the humans. Michelle had made sure that everyone had a safe place to call home. Sam knew she felt guilty and that she was trying to make up for what happened, even though it was never her fault. But she also knew that if it was her, she'd do the same. Ash was still working with Amber at Amber Security, but with the Gamber now merged, she had little to do but check that the food orders went through and payments were made. They'd left it to Jane once, but it had turned into a no vegetable diet and Amber had almost lost her mind over it. Sam never saw the problem.  Matt had gotten married to his human, Lily. He'd stepped down as mayor and moved with her to Delta, where he now worked an office job for the Gathering. She was a stay-at-home mom for their twin boys, Luke and Ethan. Sam wanted to be a fly on the wall the first time those two shifted. She'd tried to talk to him, to tell Lilly what he was, and what their sons were, but he still believed he could keep Lily in the dark. She'd pay, she really would, to see that pale white woman, turn even paler. That was if she didn't die of a heart attack.  Another strange thing that happened, was that her grandmother, Elaine, had been a regular visitor, not only with her and Amber but with Matt and Lily too. She'd told Sam that she realized life was too short to be living all alone upon a mountain, and she wanted to be a part of her great grand kids' life. Sam wanted to tell her to f**k off, but Amber had convinced her to let it be because Elaine was right, life was too short. So now Elaine had Sunday lunch with her, Amber, and Addi, along with Diane and Alice. Taylor, Jane, and Mya sometimes joined them. Sam knew that it was still hard for Taylor to be so close to them. She'd never expected to be accepted into the family, but what she never realized was, with Alice raising her, she'd been family all along. Now she just happened to be blood-related. Sam had to admit, she loved those times that all of them were together, it not only made Elaine uncomfortable, but she enjoyed having her whole family together.  Jake was still locked up, with the rabid wolf, who seemed to be getting better. Diane had wanted to start doing tests on him, but Sam had said no, and kept saying no, there was no way that she would risk her mother anywhere near that thing. Lucy now went to visit Jake more often, spending hours talking to him, and he had told her that the wolf had started trying to shift. She wanted to get another doctor in to examine him, but her mother had put her foot down and said that if she wasn't the one, no one would do it. So he was left to suffer on his own. She felt horrible, but she could not risk Diane.  Lucy had also told her that Jake wanted to be set free, that he'd learned his lesson, and just wanted to be set free so he could go about living his life. Sam had promised to think about it, but she knew that ultimately it would not be, just her, decision. She would have to call a vote. Because it was not just her life that had been thrown into chaos by him.  Things had settled down after the hard times they'd have before the zombie fight. Everyone seemed to have found their groove and footing. She knew that it would never be the same again and that they all still had it in the back of their minds, that Ava was out there, plotting and scheming. She just wished she knew where and what the witch had planned.